


Clouds Stained Red by my Torn Wings

by Alys_Gay_Parade



Category: Gravity Falls, Zero: Akai Chou | Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-06 02:50:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15876963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alys_Gay_Parade/pseuds/Alys_Gay_Parade
Summary: While on their voyage, Stan and Ford are drawn to an area in rural Japan due to Ford reading a story about Mio, a girl who had gotten lost in the woods with her twin sister and was found by herself in a state of hysteria. When they visit her, she tells them about her incident in Minakami Village, and how she left her sister behind out of fear. Despite her protests, they go to investigate. Can the ritual be complete?





	Clouds Stained Red by my Torn Wings

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh... I've been thinking about this a lot. And... well... I love it? Fatal Frame is a series near and dear to my heart, and when I remembered the importance of twins in Crimson Butterfly, I couldn't not write this.

“So, Japan, huh?” Stan's voice was laced with boredom as they walked down the winding path. Most of what he knew was from kids and their love of anime and street fashion. Heavily forested land bordered them on either side of the winding road that led up to the house they were visiting. “Why Japan?”

“I read a story about a girl named Mio Amakura. Albeit, it was on her personal blog, but it was an interesting lead nonetheless.” Ford turned on his flashlight as the sun began to sink behind the trees. “Apparently, about 24 years ago, she went missing with her sister. She was found two days later alone and hysterical.”

“Okay? What does this have to do with us?” Stan looked up to the home that they approached, an uneasy feeling welling in the pit of his stomach.

“Well,” Ford started as he almost slipped, “she states that they got trapped in some sort of ghost village. Her recounting in her blog post was a bit confusing, but if we can pinpoint the place, I wanted to investigate.”

They reached the home and Ford knocked on the door, greeted by an elderly woman. “Are you the men that Mio told me contacted her?” Her English was rusty, but far from incomprehensible.

“Yes. May we come in?” She stepped aside and let Stan and Ford enter the home. They removed their shoes, looking around at the photography littering the walls.

“I’m Rei. Mio is in the living room with her uncle, Kei.” She looked the two over with a smile ever so slightly tugging at the corners of her mouth. “And your names?”

“Ah, Stanford. But please, call me Ford.”

“Name's Stanley, but I just go by Stan.”

“Twins. Mio will like you.” Rei leads them to the couch where Mio sits, staring at an old picture. “Mio, they're here.”

Ford took a seat on the other part of the L shaped couch from Mio as Stan leaned against the arm. “Mio,” Ford began in somewhat rusty Japanese, “my name is Stanford Pines… I'm the paranormal researcher that contacted you. About your post.”

“I remember, yes.” She didn't look up from the photo, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.

“This is my twin brother, Stanley. We wanted to ask a few questions about the incident.”

The mention of a twin caused her to look up. “What do you want to know?” Was it how the survivor's guilt left her in a coma and wandering into another paranormal situation? Or how she chose to flee instead of kill her sister? Or maybe the town itself?

“What… exactly… happened?” Ford was careful with his phrasing, not wanting to upset Mio in the slightest. From the looks on Rei and Kei's faces, they wanted to know the whole story as well.

“It was twenty-four years ago… Mayu and I were just visiting a spot where we used to play as children. Next thing I know, I look up to say something, and she's chasing a butterfly into the forest. It was like she was in a trance.” She held the photo to her heart and a tear slid down her cheek. “The moment we passed through the tori, we became trapped in Minakami village.”

“It’s okay,” Stan took a seat beside his brother, looking at her with a sullen look and poor Japanese, “take as long as you need."

“Minakami village had a sacrificial ritual to keep an apocalyptic event known as the repentance from occurring. The Crimson Sacrifice. The younger twin strangling the older one.” Mio looked back to the photo with saddened eyes. “Long ago, the repentance occurred after a failed ritual. Yae and Sae decided to try and run. Yae escaped while Sae was captured. She was hung to complete the sacrifice, but without Yae, their souls did not intertwine, and Sae's vengeful spirit led the repentance, slaughtering everybody in the village and wiping it off the map.”

“Interesting…” Ford began taking notes, paying close attention to her story. “Please, continue.”

“Sae's spirit possessed Mayu. She saw me as Yae, and begged for me to complete the ritual. I couldn't. I fled the moment I could and didn't look back.”

“I think we should go investigate Minakami village,” Ford said to Stan with a confident smile.

“NO.” Mio's cry caught the twins by surprise. They turned to her with wide eyes. “You're twins… if you enter… you'll certainly be forced to complete the ritual. Sae… she'll influence you.”

“We have to do something. If your sister can be saved, we should save her.” Ford wanted to reach out and comfort the girl, but decided against it due to cultural differences. Instead, he opted to make eye contact with a sympathetic expression. “I know I'd want to save Stanley if we were in a similar situation.”

It wasn't long before they were driving out to the Minakami region, guided by gps and an address that Mio provided. “Stanford, even if I'm told I have to kill you, I won't.”

“Glad to hear that.”

The rest of their drive was completed in general silence. They find themselves at the edge of a forest, prompting Ford to leave the vehicle. His boots crunched against fallen leaves and his breath hung in still November air. He led Stanley deep, reaching a rocky clearing with a stream. The gps went off, signaling their arrival to the spot.

“They were right here when everything went down.” Ford shone his flashlight around the clearing, sitting on a nearby rock to rest.

“I'm sure it's nice during the day, but this is creepy.” Stan sits behind him, leaning against Ford's back. A long silence persists between them. “You're still upset, huh?”

“Hardly the time to talk about that right now, Stanley.”

“Isn't it?” Stan turned Ford to face him. “Ford… you're my brother. Talk to me about your feelings…”

“There's nothing to talk about. It's done with. Bill can't hurt us again, you're regaining all your memories, the kids and town are safe, and we're on our journey.”

“You know that's not what I'm talking about.”

Ford spun himself back around with a hard sigh. “Well, I don't want to talk about _that_. That's even further in the past.”

Another long silence passed as Ford began to think. If he'd only gone after Stan when he was kicked out… none of this would have happened. They'd have been together. Stan would have been his common sense. There would have been no suffering for Stan on the street. No Bill. No mishaps with Fiddleford.

“Actually….” And as Ford turned around, Stan was past the tree line, cautiously pursuing a red butterfly. “Stanley! Wait for me!”

Ford chased after his brother, afraid of being left behind. The forest began to spin as a slight panic set in, and he realized that they had lost sight of the clearing. The flashlight goes out. Ford sees a figure going down an overgrown path and follows, thinking it to be Stanley. However, when he gets close enough to place a hand on Stan's shoulder, the figure turns around and he's plagued with a vision of a terrified girl.

The vision is gone just as soon as it began, and Ford is left standing alone beneath the tori that he was stopped at. He continues down the path, calling out for Stan, and finds him atop the hill, surrounded by the red butterflies.

“I think I found Minakami village, Ford.” An old, battered village lies below, and Ford braces himself. They'd finally arrived.


End file.
